One day your father, your wife, your daughter, your bff or your uncle Fred drops the word: they are nudists. If you have no idea what it is or how to handle this new information and you have a ton of questions, this document will help you on your way.
Or maybe you are uncle Fred, walking up and down the isle for the hundredth time, rehearsing the words you’re going to say: “Family, I am a nudist”.
In this article you will find some cornerstones for your speech and if you’re not that much of a talker, you can just print it out and shove it in front of people’s faces. Whatever you think is best, Fred.
Or maybe you are uncle Fred, walking up and down the isle for the hundredth time, rehearsing the words you’re going to say: “Family, I am a nudist”.
In this article you will find some cornerstones for your speech and if you’re not that much of a talker, you can just print it out and shove it in front of people’s faces. Whatever you think is best, Fred.
What is a nudist?
Other than “nudist”, also the term “naturist” is often used, and in this blog we like to use “nudie”. Basically, it all comes down to the same thing. A naturist/nudist/nudie is someone who enjoys being naked, with or without the company of others.
Company, you say?
Yes, many nudies enjoy the social factor. They go to the club, the resort or the beach to spend some time naked among other naked people. It’s quite comparable with any other type of club, a golf club for example. People get to know each other, do some sports, have some chats and drink some wine. Except that everyone is naked.
Are they having orgies?
No they are certainly not. Among nudies, sex is not tolerated outside of any private accommodation. Because society has created such a strong link between nudity and sex, it’s sometimes hard to imagine for a non-nudist, but it’s the truth. The same rules count as in the golf club, no partners are swapped, nobody has sex in front of you or will ask you to participate. One may fall in love, but just like at the golf club you’ll have to get a room.
So what do they do then?
Well, pretty much a lot of relaxing or working out. Nudies are often into sports, so they play volleyball or bowling or they swim or run some laps. But many are also just there to enjoy life, to read a book, to spend some hours in the sun and get a nice tan, to destress, to socialize with like minded souls or to be away from technology for a couple of hours.
Away from technology?
At many naturist places cell phones or tablets are forbidden in the common areas because of their camera function. But this has another great advantage, finally you get some time away from the digital world, a couple of hours without Facebook and Instagram, no text messages, no calls. It may sound like horror, but it’s actually very liberating.
So naturists are people who like to be naked among others in their clubs without having sex. Correct?
Almost. It’s very hard to give a complete definition of the terms “naturism” or “nudism”, because it has a different meaning for different people. Some don’t like to social aspect at all and prefer only to be naked at home, some only go naked on their yearly holiday in the south of France and some try to be naked as much as possible.
How do people become naturists?
Some (like ourselves) accidentally got in touch with it and loved the lifestyle, some were born in a naturist family and some just wanted to try it out of curiosity or got introduced by a friend, partner, or family member. From the outside, the naturist community seems a very closed thing, but it’s certainly not. The high fences around the club may be intimidating, but there are always a bunch of nice people behind them.
Why are people naturists?
Again, this depends from person to person. There are hundreds of reasons to become a naturist, but we’ll name a few that we hear the most often.
Comfort: many things you do, cleaning, cooking, swimming, reading or sleeping are just more comfortable without any clothes on.
An equal tan: no matter how tiny your bikini is, you will never have an equal tan if you don’t sunbathe naked.
Liberation: Being naked gives you a feeling of freedom, as if you are relieved from something that has been pulling on you for your whole life.
Protest: For others it’s rather a kind of protest, a middle finger to society. You can make me pay taxes, you can make me walk in line, but on Sunday afternoon you cannot make me wear clothes.
Destress: Being naked, especially in a social scene takes away your stress. It gives you a mental holiday without having to go far away.
Body confidence: It may sound controversial, but by exposing yourself, your strengths and your flaws to others, and meanwhile seeing others in their purest form as well, you become more confident about yourself.
Comfort: many things you do, cleaning, cooking, swimming, reading or sleeping are just more comfortable without any clothes on.
An equal tan: no matter how tiny your bikini is, you will never have an equal tan if you don’t sunbathe naked.
Liberation: Being naked gives you a feeling of freedom, as if you are relieved from something that has been pulling on you for your whole life.
Protest: For others it’s rather a kind of protest, a middle finger to society. You can make me pay taxes, you can make me walk in line, but on Sunday afternoon you cannot make me wear clothes.
Destress: Being naked, especially in a social scene takes away your stress. It gives you a mental holiday without having to go far away.
Body confidence: It may sound controversial, but by exposing yourself, your strengths and your flaws to others, and meanwhile seeing others in their purest form as well, you become more confident about yourself.
What if my partner is a naturist?
Since about one twentieth of the world considers themselves some kind of naturist (in Europe, America and Australia that’s probably more), you shouldn’t be very surprised. If you’ve read the previous topics, you should already know that naturism is not a disease, it’s not for loonies and neither for perverts. So it’s not such a big deal as you might initially think.
Basically, you have 3 options:
Basically, you have 3 options:
- You could forbid your partner to engage in any nudist activities. This is clearly the worst option as it’s not a good foundation for a healthy relationship.
- You could tell your partner to enjoy his/her nudism but that you prefer to keep your clothes on. Fair enough, a decent agreement, but yet we would fully advise you the next point.
- You give it a try yourself. This will enlarge the common ground between you, which in the end is better for your relationship and probably you’ll enjoy it as well. And if you don’t, just pull up your pants again and you’re not a nudist anymore. But at least you’ve tried.
But my partner will see all those beautiful naked people…
A common misunderstanding is that nudist venues are flocked with naked movie stars and top models. Let’s just pop that bubble for you Fred, it’s not. Naturists can be everyone, your neighbour, your doctor, your mother or your boss. Next time you go shopping, take a good look around. All the others in the store are possible naturists. Are they all extremely attractive? We doubt it. Is it possible that there’s just at that time an impressively beautiful person? That could be.
Which brings us to another misconception: Nudity doesn’t make people more beautiful or attractive and the longer you’re a nudist, the less you’ll notice the fact that people are naked. Your partner sees attractive people on a daily basis in shops, on the way to work and on TV, and yet you’re still together, right?
Which brings us to another misconception: Nudity doesn’t make people more beautiful or attractive and the longer you’re a nudist, the less you’ll notice the fact that people are naked. Your partner sees attractive people on a daily basis in shops, on the way to work and on TV, and yet you’re still together, right?
Can I bring my children to nudist resorts?
Well, since you and your partner are nudists now, you may want to spread the joy through the rest of the family. And lucky you: the answer is yes. In some venues children are not allowed because, well, they’re not always that peaceful and quiet. But in most places it’s very common that nudists bring their children along.
Do I have to tell people that I’m a nudist too now?
No you don’t, this is a personal decision and nobody should know if you don’t want it to. Nudist venues are also very discrete when it comes to providing details about their visitors, even if you call them because you urgently need to talk to your wife because the kitchen is on fire and she misplaced the fire extinguisher (again). Most venues won’t tell you that she’s actually there.
Nevertheless, it sometimes doesn’t hurt to tell others about it, you may introduce some friends into the lifestyle, maybe they’ll tell you that they have been nudies for ages themselves too.
And if you don’t know how to tell them, start this document from the beginning.
Nevertheless, it sometimes doesn’t hurt to tell others about it, you may introduce some friends into the lifestyle, maybe they’ll tell you that they have been nudies for ages themselves too.
And if you don’t know how to tell them, start this document from the beginning.
Picture credit: The photos in this post are coming from Google and Twitter. If you find one of yourself and you don’t want it to be on our blog, let us know and we’ll remove it.
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Entered the nudist lifestyle about 2 years ago when i joined a nudist resort here in the midwest, wow,love the lifestyle,should have done this 20 years ago. one thas to learn that there is a difference between sexuality and nudity. love the feeling with the sun and fresh air on my body,i am now a home nudist also.
I love the goofyness that is always present in the blogs 🙂
Great article! You have explained in simple, friendly language exactly what it means to be a nudie (I love that word too … better than pigeonholing oneself as a nudist or naturist). We need to do more to demystify our lifestyle and make it ‘unweird’ in people’s minds, and articles like this help. Thank you!
I’ve been a nudist since I was around 12 had to hide it for a long time but I go nude everyday day at home and go to nudist resort every chance I get now I love being outdoors and nude
Good, solid, well stated description of what to expect of family friendly nudists.
There are many approaches to getting it out there should you decide to. In our case we appeared nude on national television being interviewed about the nude cruises we’d done.
As we left the studio to head to work I couldn’t but think of the Danny DeVito line “Now that oughta do it.”
No going back from that! Respect!!
Nothing like jumping in the deep end.
At least the announcement is over and done with in an instant.
Like ripping off a bandaid.
Like your work 🙂
This is a nicely written, very comprehensive article and the effort put into is quite apparent. I have been a Naturist/Nudist for 30 yrs. this year and like to think the things I am writing about this “way” of living are getting better and more thoughtful all the time as well. For me, in the past I described the good feelings of nudism the same as kicking off our shoes and pulling off socks after a long day at my textile-compulsive job! It is refreshing, unconstricting and sure, a bit “cooler” (chilly even, maybe) but it usually feels really wonderful!
More recently, I described it as a sensory experience and because our skins has millions or billions of pressure sensitive nerves, and those teeny, tiny, very fine hairs, all of which send signals directly to our brains, it could be said the skin is sending more stimulation into our brains than our eyes, nose and ears combined. This kind of nudity is gentle, subtle and graceful if we accept it as such. There is a different mindset required with understanding nothing special or extraordinary is going to happen, well at least, nothing beyond or consent and mutual enjoyment.
Gently we approach a new future, one with mutual respect, more joy, simple love and abiding compassion for each other, all of which permits a form of spiritual growth and a strengthening of character because of the pure honesty involved. Honesty and love!
We really like the “kicking off your shoes and pulling off your socks after a hard day’s work”. It’s the perfect comparison with “kicking off all your clothes after a hard day at life”. It could be that we will steal this line from you in one of our following blog posts and we’d like to already apologise for that 🙂
Your second paragraph is something we’ve already described in previous posts, our “touch” is such a strong sense and yet we relate it almost exclusively to our finger tips. By wearing so many clothes, we’ve forgotten that we can actually touch with all body parts. As a nudist, you regain that sense, and it feels amazing!
Got a lot of joy from this article. Thanks for posting it.
‘Or maybe you are uncle Fred, walking up and down the isle for the hundredth time, rehersing the words you’re going to say: “Family, I am a nudist”.’
That’s me. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed our post Fred 😉
How long have nick & lins been nudist?
Great article. Now to the next step. Have been a nudist for quite a while, wife, grown kids and some grandkids know. (although they are not).
How does one go about letting friends know??
………. fantastic … !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for another great article. I don’t see myself “coming out” to anyone but my wife. I did get to spend a day at a nudist campground in 2018. Hope to get back.
Yes I have been a nudist since i was very young, I grew up in a time when streaking was a trend, and I did it often from the age of about 12, I love nudity and luckily so does my partner, great article.
A really nice piece. So we’ll started – thank you.
(Please correct the spelling of ‘tolerant’ – you added an ‘l’ !)
Thanks for the tip about “tolerant”! Now and then the fact that our mother tongue is Dutch messes with our spelling 🙂
Oh no problem at all: glad to help. Thanks again for the terrific work you do to promote naturism.
You have to be careful about what resorts and venues you go to. I lived at a clothing optional resort in Florida for five years. The swingers created problems with their aggressiveness and attempts to recruit others into casual sex. Even the resorts that are AANR approved will have those types there though they will generally be more discreet. The bottom line is that through our cultural conditioning most people do link nudity and sex. And the big problem that is causing more resorts to be more welcoming to swingers is they spend money. Nudists have a well deserved reputation for being notoriously cheap. That and the fact that social nudism is not being embraced by younger people means nudist resorts will mostly be a thing of the past in the not too distant future.
You mention some very interesting things. The fact that swingers go to nudist resorts shouldn’t be a problem. Nudist resorts have rules and can throw people out if they don’t follow those rules. If the current rules are not enough to discourage indecent behavior, the resorts can change their rules.
Which brings us to a second point you make. Resorts aren’t always willing to kick out the swingers, because swingers tend to be big spenders. Then it becomes their choice: Do they want to keep their resort free of swinging or do they go for the dollars?
We don’t think that young people are not interested in social nudism anymore. instead, we think that they are not interested in nudist resorts. We’ve noticed this a lot when we were in the USA. The average age at the resorts was double or triple ours. But the beaches and hot springs did attract much younger visitors. If resorts don’t adjust to the needs of young people, they might become a thing of the past. But nudism won’t.
some people bring a fine line between naturism and swinging (or sex and porn) because some people class just naked people as porn, but some people dont class private sex as porn, but do class public sex as porn, and some people accept naked sex in the outside world —- therefore sex/porn is relative to everyone and cannot be judged by anyone in the outside world.
Great explanation, thank you!
I may quote you on my Instagram.